Trousers-stretcher.



G. VAN ROOIJEN. .TROUSERS STRETGHBR. APPLIGATI 0N PILED DEO.19, 1912.

Pateinted Sept. 9, 1913 2 slums-SHEET 1.

G. VAN ROOIJEN.

0o 1 9M 1B in 9H -4 t PM E SE H d mm H m a P 2 1 9 l HM. m H D TE H SF RY ET. m T MA Tm L P P A leg.

UNITED STATES A The: I airfare.

GARRI'E vim RooIJEn, or CHESTER. NEW JERSEY.

TROUSERS-STRETCHER.

e -resell.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' Patented Sept. 9, 1913.

Application filed December 19, 1912. Serial No. 737,612.

invention relates to a streteher adapted for insertion in the leg of a pair of trousers in contact with the fold of the --trouscrs for the purpose of preserving thefolds and of stretching the I wrinkles out-of the cloth.

The iinention comprises special features of construction including a central fulcrumbar slotted to receive the ends Ofllllh's con-- noeted'with twoside bars, the insertion oft-he links in the-slotsof, the fulcrum-bar leaving the op posito sides of'the fulcrum-bar entirely free from projections which interfere with its convenient insertion in the trousers leg; also a particular construction 'forthe slots so as to admit the edges of the links when the stretcher is collapsed, and a particular construction of the means for expanding the s de-bars and locking them in then adjusted position.- The links connecting the opposite ends of the sidebars to one end of the fulcrumbarare shorter than those at the other. end, to form a tapering stretcher 1n cnfornnty to the legs of the trousers, and such,

shorter links would interfere with the collapsing of the stretcher unless provision were made for a movable connection with the fulcrunrbar or the side-bars. To ett'eet such connection, a pin-slot is made longitudinally of the fulcrum-bar transverse tothe slot- Whie-h receives the. ends of the shorter links,".and the fulcrum-pin of such links is movable Within such pin-slot. This permitsv the side-bar to change its angle automatically'to conform to the taper of the trousers The fulcrum-bards provided near one end with a special slider connected by inclined links to the two side-bars, so that the longitudinal movement .of the. slider operates when required, to expand the sidebars-within the trousersleg, and s wided for locking the s ider upon the fulecialmeans is proeruni-bar to lock the side-bars when thus expat] ed.

lie

The invention will .be understood by reference to the annexed drawing, in which Figure 1 is a plan of the stretcher expanded with the trousers" leg indicated by dotted lines 6; Fig. 2 shows the stretcher-collapsed; Fig. 3 is an edge vicwof the trousers folded with one leg 1n section and the stretcher lying therein; Fig. 4. is a crosssection on llne 4i in Fig.1;F1g'; 5 is a cross section on line -5 in Fig. 1; Fig. 6 shows the broader end ofthe stretcher in plan; and, Fig. 7 the narrower end, both views being upon a much larger scale than Fig. 1; Fig.8

'IS an edge view of the slider and lock-piece.

Thefulcrum-bar a is formed of a rectangular strip of wood having longitudinal slots (1. and a", in'the plane of the stretcher, 111 which the lnner cm s oftho links 6 and o pivots (Z to the side-bars a near their ends.

,These side-barsare shown of sheet-metal are jointed upon a fixed pivot f in the it'ulcruni-har, but the pivot g of the links is movable in a slot h in the fulcrum-bar so that when the sidebarsare collapsed. upon are fitted, and their outer ends united by The links the fulcrum-bar, as shown in Fig. 2, the. I

pivot moves. longitudinally in the slot 71-.

The length of the slot h is proportioned to arrest the movable pivot g dnr'in the expansion of the side-bars, thus furnishing a rigid abutment to ex and the side bars a 'ainst the inside of the trousers leg.

\Vheu the side-bars are collapsed they lie close (as shown in Fig.2) to the fulcrumbar, so that the-entire stretcher occupies very little room and can .hereadily packed for transportation.

The movement of the side-bars is controlled by a slider 2' fitted movably to the fulcrum-bar and connected by links to the side-bars c. A lock-piece 7a is shown formed of wire with its ends hooked into arms upon the slider and itsiree end bent into a hook 72- to engage any one of a series of holes l formed in the fulcrum-bar. \Vhen the sidebars are collapsed the hook of the lock-piece engages the end-hole of the series. The sidebars are expanded by pushing the slider longitudinally 'so that the links j toreo'the side-bars outwardly,- and the series of holes permits the slider to be locked in difi'erentpositions'when the side-bars are expanded is a considerable distance'beyond the more widely expa'nded ends of the side-bars and is 5 Copies of this patent/may be obtained for withthe desired tension against'th'e inside of a pair of trousers. The links are shown as flat bars of thin metal, and the edges of theslots a and a through the fulcrum-bar are formed at one end with sloping notches m, which permit the links to lie within the slots of the fulcrum-bar, as shown-in Fig. 2, when the side-bars are collapsed. Only'very narrow slots are required to admit the inner ends of the links; thus avoiding any material weakening of the fulcrum-bar.

It has been comfnon heretofore to pivot links in a trousers stretcher upon the exte rior of the fulcrum-bar, which forms projections and. shoulders upon the bar, which are very objectionable when inserting the stretcher within the leg of a pair of trousers, and it will be'observed that my fulcrum-bar is free from any such projections, by reason of the-slots a and a which receive the ends of the links. band 0, and thus leave both the opposite sides of the fulcrum-bar entirely: .sinooth where they lie upon the cloth during 1 j the insertion of the stretcher in the trousers 1 legit In my construction, the only projection upon the fulcrum-bar is formed by the slider 71 which it Will be observed in Fig. 1

not inserted within the leg of the trousers.

It will be understood that one of the I stretchers is required foreach leg of a pair 5 of trousers, F 1g. 3 showing the trousers folded with the upper leg ttcut away to ex-' pose the stretcher lying therein, an i the 1 other leg 25 concealing the stretcher excepting its extreme ends.

' The trousers are shown very fiat in Fig. 3 with the crotch indicating the separation between the trousers legs.

The upper end of the fulcrum-bar is provided with an eye 11. by which the two :as shown in Figs; 6 and 8. y Having thus set forth the nature of the stretchers with the trousers stretched thereon may hang upon a nail or hook while the trousers are being stretched. I

It will be observed that the slotted form or the fulcrum-bar, which permits the employmentof the slots a and h transverseto one another, is readily effected by usinga square bar-of wood, over which the slider ished bar of iron.'

moves more smoothly than over an unfin- The slider is shown in Figs. 4 and 5 made of two pieces of flat bar-iron to fit, each, around one. side of the" bar a, and having arms o which are perforated for the pivots of the links j,-which pivots connect the two halves of the slider together upon the fulcrum-bar. This construction is very cheap and convenient, and the lock-piece 7c is cheaply jointed thereto by hooks upon its ends inserted through holes in the arms '21,

invention what is claimed herein is:

; my hand in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

GARRIT VAN ROOIJEN. Witnesses i JAMES NAUGHTON, "Isaac R. Rows.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner -of Patents. Washington, D. C.

Ina trousers stretcher, the combination, 

